All pictures are thumbnails. Click on them for a larger version.
Fresh powder coat!
One of my factory bushings was shot, which caused an annoying clunk in the front suspension. I bought a set of poly bushings from Rossion and removed the arms. This made a good opportunity to media blast the arms and have them powder coated. I also replaced the ball joints, just cuz.
New poly bushings, powder coated arms
Here is a shot of the front suspension with the poly bushings, new ball joints, freshly powder coated arms, and everything else cleaned up..
It all started with a clunk
Here is a riveting short film that captures the essence of my front suspension clunk. Note the professional production values!
If you're gonna do it, do it right
I was offered a Ron Davis radiator for a good price. Since the front suspension was disassembled, I decided to do the radiator at the same time. It was also a good opportunity to re-route all the hoses in a more sensible pattern.
Adjustable rear toe links
Lee Noble designed an excellent chassis and suspension, which makes the non-adjustable rear toe links a real puzzler. Friend and race car fabricator Alan Blaine welded adjusters to the factory arms. Naturally, I had to get them powder coated.
Adjustable rear toe links installed
Shot of the powder coated and poly'ed rear arms and adjustable toe link installed.
Cannot abide rusty hubs!
I think the original owner of my Noble must have parked it outside in a humid environment. I've had to deal with things like these rusty hubs. Even though nobody else sees them or knows that they are there, things like this bug me until I fix them.
Rust-free, and protected
There is a little bit of residual pitting on this hub, but the rust is gone. I also cleaned up the splines and the wheel studs. Some of you may react negatively to four wheel studs, but four is lighter than five, and the Noble is all about light. When four are sufficient to handle the load, adding a fifth merely adds unnecessary weight.
Belly pan closeout panels
The Noble comes with an almost-full belly pan. I decided to finish their work by making these pieces that close off the area around the front tires. The little crease came about because I underestimated the clearance needed when opening the front clam. That big gap you see in the pic turned out to be essential!
Closeout panels rubberized coating
My first drive with the new panels revealed an entire orchestra of little stones noisily bouncing off the thin aluminum sheets. I picked up an aerosol can of rubberized undercoating and sprayed both sides. No more pebble noise.
